A tile mosaic of a Space Invader in Denver. Underground urban-artist Invader is not known to have worked in Denver, so this may be a knock-off, but it’s cool and nerdy anyway. Former Buffalo-Exchange location on 13th Avenue, Denver, Sept. 30, 2012. (Daniel J. Schneider, The Denver Post)

Shiny objects. Comic books, vampires, superheroes, sci-fi movies, anything that breeds action figures and playsets, dice with more sides than you have fingers, book series that never end (and that’s OK), games that require pencils and imaginations, collectibles that you have to paint yourself with one of those magnifying lamps and a brush with precisely five bristles, animated Saturday morning cartoons typified by the ever-scrolling background image and characters with two facial expressions and three mouth positions.

Joe Nguyen is the online prep sports editor for The Denver Post. He had prior worked with the Post's YourHub section, covering Adams County and Aurora. His obsessions have ranged from comics books and...

A nerd who is intrigued by all things extraordinary and otherworldly. When he’s not working, he can be found in a small room, playing D&D, pretending to be a three-foot gnome who charges dragons while mounted on a fox.